


Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch

by wannabequeen



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: AU: hadrian is a good father, Bees, Gardens & Gardening, Multi, Other, POV Child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 09:47:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13478850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wannabequeen/pseuds/wannabequeen
Summary: Benjamin is in charge of a flower garden. Rosana keeps bees. Hadrian comes and goes. Alyosha makes his way into their lives.





	Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mercutioes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercutioes/gifts).



> Secret Samol for Han Mercutioes!!!  
> Title from “I can’t help myself (sugar pie, honey bunch)” by the four tops. I did some drawings for this, although they’re not really enough for me to call them fanart of the actual show. You can see them on twitter here:
>
>> Happy (belated) [#secretsamol](https://twitter.com/hashtag/secretsamol?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) han [@mercutioes](https://twitter.com/mercutioes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) !!!!!! I wrote you some domestic alyosha/rosana/hadrian from Benjamin's point of view! I also did a few drawings of how I thought people looked. Read the fic here: <https://t.co/hIZj1F3viG> [pic.twitter.com/2UOp8Pc2Hm](https://t.co/2UOp8Pc2Hm)
>> 
>> — ✡ every scholR is a schism (@r3fin3) [January 25, 2018](https://twitter.com/r3fin3/status/956601788257460225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
>   
> For those who are especially sensitive to it there is one mention of Arell, though not by name. 

One spring day, when Benjamin is around 7, Mama looks across a bed of cabbages that they’re weeding together and asks:

“Benji, next year do you want to be in charge of planning and taking care of part of the garden? I think you’re old enough to make those kinds of decisions.”

He grins so big he can feel his eyes crinkle. “Can I do the flowers?”

Mama glances over to the mess of wildflowers surrounding the little shelter that holds their skep. 

“Sure. You’ll have to be careful with the bees, though.”

Benjamin nods. He spent enough time in the yard over the years to know how to be respectful of bees. They work hard, just like Samothes, and build their homes with just as much care.  
__

Winter comes, and with it, charting out the garden. She gives Benjamin a two-pace by two-pace section.

Alyosha knows a lot about books, and about flowers. He’ll be able to help him plan the garden.

Benjamin runs to the church library, all gawky legs and flinging arms. The stones are slippery beneath his feet, slick with rain and worn smooth. He knows this route, though, and which steps are treacherous; his papa and Alyosha work there, and sometimes they ask him to run messages home to mama, sometimes messages he’s not allowed to read. He doesn’t mind, he likes to be useful. 

He clatters in and throws off his wool hood before pausing to hang it up carefully. It’s cool and dim, and smells like iron and old paper. Looking around, Alyosha isn’t in the main room, so Benjamin goes hunting. 

Benjamin finds Alyosha in his office. Papa is with him, leaning against the desk. When Benjamin sticks his head in the room, Alyosha looks up and Papa straightens, clearing his throat. 

“Benjamin, what an honor. What brings you here today?”

Alyosha smiles, but it’s wobbly. The weak light from the window casts half of his face in shadow, and he looks more tired than usual. Mama told him that Alyosha’s bones hurt when it’s cold or rainy, and right now it’s both, so Benjamin figures Papa is in here helping Alyosha by carrying books and keeping the fire high. 

“I don’t know if Mama told you, but she’s put me in charge of part of the garden! I’m doing the flowers, which me and Mama don’t know much about, so I came here!”

He rocks forward and back on his heels as he talks, too excited to be still. 

“Ah. Well, I don’t know if the creed has many books on flowers, but when I was younger, my mama taught me to garden. I could probably help.”

Benjamin scoots over to stick himself between Papa and Alyosha.

“That sounds so good! Did you grow up near here? Were you in charge of flowers? Did your mama hate weeding as much as mine? Was your mama a very good gardener too? Why do you think the creed doesn’t have gardening books? Does Samothes not like plants?”

Papa puts his big hand on one of Benjamin’s shoulders.

“One question at a time, huh, Ben? I’ll leave you two to it, but Alyosha, we should continue our conversation later. Come by tonight after dinner?”

Alyosha looks up at Papa and smiles. 

“Of course, Hadrian. I’m interested in Rosana’s input as well.”

Papa coughs, face bright red. Benjamin whacks him on the back, the way Papa does for him, until he stops coughing. 

“Okay. Well, uh, see you both later, then.” Papa says, and goes. 

Benjamin turns to Alyosha. “That was weird. So? Flowers?”

\---

They decide to only plant a few types of flowers, ones they’re certain will grow well and don’t need too much careful treatment. Benjamin wants to choose flowers that will be good food for the bees. 

When spring comes and the dirt is soft and wet, Benjamin divides his ground into four quarters, each for a different flower, with the hive in the middle. He puts down seeds for marigolds, dark-eyed Samotheses, daisies, and chrysanthemums. 

\----

Alyosha is visiting to update Mama on what Papa is doing on his quest and they’re sitting in the garden while Benjamin weeds. They’re finished with grownup business, so Benjamin has joined the conversation.

“I kind of like dandelions, they’re cheerful. I always feel sad to pull them up.”

“You know, Benjamin, bees actually love dandelions,” Alyosha says mildly from his chair. 

“Really?”

Benjamin swings his eyes over to look at the two of them. Mama doesn’t look happy. She hates weeding, this should make her excited.

“Yeah! And humans can eat the greens, and make wine with the flowers.” 

“The problem is that they take water and nutrients that other plants need to grow, so you can’t just leave them be.” Mama elbows Alyosha in the side as she interjects. He gasps, as if she had stabbed him, pretending to nearly fall off his chair. Benjamin giggles and runs over to save him. One daring play-fight with Mama to avenge Alyosha later, they’re all drinking juice. Alyosha looks up from his lemonade and makes a suggestion.

“How about this: you set aside a part of your garden for them to grow, but you pick them before they turn into seed-puffs. Bees can’t do anything with them at that point anyway.”

\-----

As spring passes and summer is well underway, Alyosha starts spending more and more time at the house. Sometimes, he comes over for dinner, although Benjamin doesn’t get to stay up any later the nights that he visits. 

Once Papa gets home from his quest, Alyosha starts staying the night. Benjamin offers to share his bedroom, but Alyosha says that he’s all set. It sounds pretty crowded to Benjamin, but grownups are strange. They like broccoli, and he doesn’t understand that, either.

\------

One afternoon, the sun is high and beating down, and it’s too hot to be inside. Benjamin is trying to see into the hive to check on the bees, but having very little success. His knees and arms are dirty, and he knows he has a few leaves stuck in his hair. 

A fat, lazy bee comes out of the entrance to the hive, flying a winding route to a nearby flower. He’s so focused on that one that when another flies into his glasses, he leaps up, arms windmilling, and lands in the pile of weeds he had just pulled. 

Staring up at the sky, he sighs. He kind of likes the smell of dirt, but Mama doesn’t. He’ll definitely have to take a bath after this one.

\-------

They have more dandelions than they know what to do with, so Benjamin starts making flower chains. He makes necklaces for Mama, and decorates Alyosha’s cane with a twisting garland. For himself, he makes a crown.

Papa comes home from church and breaks into a big bright smile.

"Just like Samothes," he says, and kisses the middle of Benjamin's head, where the hair changes direction. He walks over to Mama, kisses her hello, and then turns to face Alyosha. Benjamin expects them to hug, or something, but instead Papa kisses Alyosha hello too, and then turns slowly with wide eyes to look at Benjamin like he made a mistake. 

He’s making the same face as when he tried to make fancy breakfast before Mama woke up, but nearly lit the table on fire instead. 

“Benjamin, I… We. That is, ah....” Papa looks to Mama, like she can explain better. She shrugs at him and waves a hand; she does the same thing when Benjamin has made a mess and it’s on him to clean it up.

Benjamin may only be 7, but he knows about kissing. It’s what you do when you love somebody, which is why his mama and his papa kiss, but also why they kiss him, and why Papa kisses his ring of Samothes when he’s done praying. He’s seen Alyosha sometimes kiss letters before he sends them, to someone he says is very important to him, even though they’re fighting. 

Alyosha is great, everyone should love him, Benjamin loves him, so it makes sense that Papa’s kissing him.

Benjamin says as much, and Alyosha flushes pink. 

“I love you too, Benjamin. C’mere.”

Benjamin goes, and even though he’s a little too big to fit on laps anymore, Alyosha bundles him up into a hug and kisses him, and Mama and Papa close in on either side and kiss each other, and everything smells like flowers and honey, sweet and close.


End file.
